@NCBearsBaseball Battles Hard, Season Ends Against CSU Bakersfield

Saturday, May 27

Mesa, Ariz.

4:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

24-30

CSU Bakersfield

32-23

CSU Bakersfield

Northern Colorado

5/27/2017 8:43:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Northern Colorado baseball's 2017 season ended Saturday in an 8-5 loss to CSU Bakersfield

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

MESA, Ariz. - Northern Colorado battled all of the way to the end, falling to CSU Bakersfield Saturday afternoon 8-5. The loss came in an elimination game at the WAC Tournament, ending the teams season.

How It Happened
It felt like a repeat of Friday night for Northern Colorado, this time is was RHP Troy Watson was cruising through the first three innings before running into trouble in he fourth. CSUB strung together four straight singles to take a 2-0 lead with just one out. The third run of the inning came in on a sky high infield fly ball that was dropped by UNC first baseman Brett Minnick.

The Bears bats woke up in the bottom half of the fourth, after the lineup was retired in order the first time through, Nick Tanner led off the inning with a single to left field. Jack Pauley recorded his third double of the tournament when he sent a ball down the right field line placing runners on second and third with one out. Cole Maltese drove home the first UNC run of the game with a single to right field. Following the play, CSU Bakersfield tried to pull off the hidden ball trick, but their pitcher, Isaiah Moten was on the mound, meaning it was a balk allowing Pauley to score and Maltese to advance to second. The Bears ended up stranding runners on the corners to end the inning.

Bakersfield put pressure on Northern Colorado once again in the fifth as they loaded the bases with two outs. Jacob Howard induced a hard hit ground ball towards UNC's third baseman Dean Lawson who was unable to make the play allowing a pair to score on the error. Two more came in before the inning ended as CSUB led 7-2.

Northern Colorado continued to battle back, as Dan Reese led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run to left field, his first of the season. Tyler Yamaguchi followed it up with a double down the left field line. He came home to score on Maltese's second RBI single of the game, this one through the left side.

The Bears made it a two run game when Dean Lawson reached on a one out double in the sixth, and scored on a Tyler Yamaguchi single, cutting the deficit to 7-5.

Bakersfield added on an insurance run in the top of the ninth extending the lead to three runs. Alex Kiel worked a two out walk, but the team was unable to make one final rally to end the team's season with an 8-5 loss.

Game Changer
Errors were costly for Northern Colorado Saturday afternoon. The Bears committed three for the game, but it was two of them that stood out the most. On in the fourth allowed one unearned run in, while another in the fifth led to four more unearned runs. Those runs scored were enough to push CSU Bakersfield past UNC.

Notable
- Senior Nick Tanner closes his Northern Colorado career with a 16-game hit streak. He was 1-for-3 in the game with a run scored. The hit streak is the longest of any Bear this season.
- Tyler Yamaguchi and Cole Maltese each recorded multi-hit games for UNC. Both were 2-for-4, Yamaguchi had an RBI and run scored, while Maltese drove in a pair of runs.
- UNC's pitchers combined to strike out eight Roadrunners on Saturday, while CSUB struck out just four Bears.

Quotable
Head Coach Carl Iwasaki
"I asked the guys before the game today if three weeks ago they would of believed we would make it to the WAC Tournament and win a couple games. No one including me raised their hand. This team had heart and fight all year long that I am so proud of. This group of men continued to put this program in the right direction and I am proud of that. The accomplishments of this group set up next year's team and beyond. I am proud of what we did this year by making it to the semifinals on Championship Saturday and am looking forward to the next step the 2018 team takes."

What's Next?
The loss knocks the Bears out of the WAC Tournament and ends UNC's season. Northern Colorado finishes with a 24-30 mark overall. The earned a third straight trip to the WAC Tournament and won the program's first ever WAC Tournament game earlier this week.